January 13, 2024
Hot Dog Eating Champ Joey Chestnut Undergoes Epic Body Transformation after Losing 20lbs to Get Ready for Eating Season
US Sun
HOT dog eating champion Joey Chestnut has gone lean and mean to prepare for the 2024 competitive eating season.
The legendary competitive eater says he is 20 pounds lighter than this time last year as he looks to retain his Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest crown on July 4.
Chestnut is now just under 220 pounds, compared to 240 pounds at the start of 2023.
And the American icon is hoping to lose more weight in the coming months to be fighting fit for the upcoming Major League Eating campaign.
“I did pretty good this offseason. I’m going into 2024 pretty light… lighter than last year,” Chestnut told The U.S. Sun.
“I’m just under 220 [pounds], maybe I can continue losing a little bit.
“Hopefully I can lose a bit more weight before the major contests start and I get ready for hot dogs.
“This time last year I was probably pushing 240.”
Chestnut has been keeping in shape by hiking, jogging, and sticking to a low-carb diet.
“The most important thing is my diet and practicing good habits,” he said.
The 40-year-old has revealed how losing weight helps him in competitive eating contests.
“The lighter I am, the more I can control my breathing during a contest,” he said.
“When I’m heavier, if I get winded I have to breathe through my mouth and I’m not eating at all.
“So if I can stay calm, breathe through my nose, and sneak in my breaths, I can definitely eat more.”
Chestnut’s first event of the season is the Siegel’s Bagelmania World Bagel Eating Championship in Las Vegas on January 13.
It will be Chestnut’s debut in the competition, in which rival Geoff Esper last year set a world record with 17.75 bagels with cream cheese in eight minutes.
The event, which honors National Bagel Day, has $10,000 in prize money.
“It’s my first time doing it. I’ve looked at video from last year’s contest to see the technique the other guys were eating with,” Chestnut adds.
“And I tried to do some practices on my own and figure out a technique between dunking in liquid, taking the right size bite, and swallowing.
“I’m pretty comfortable with it. I’m going to be using black coffee to help me swallow and dunk and then find that rhythm.”
Chestnut believes the event will be something of a test of strength.
“It’s going to be super carb-heavy and it’s going to be a super jaw strength contest,” he said.
“Bagels are chewy and they don’t absorb liquid like a hot dog bun so the dunking is not going to help that much.
“It’s going to be a jaw strength contest.
“The hot dog contest I’m bloated at the end. This one I’m expecting my jaws to be sore.”
Chestnut is also looking to get back to winning ways after failing to win buffalo wings and shrimp cocktail competitions in the latter half of 2023.
“Hopefully I can turn it around a little bit,” he said.
“I was slow. I don’t know what’s going on. I’m hoping to find a more intense rhythm.
“In both those contests out of the gates, I was a little bit slow and I was playing catch up and I couldn’t quite catch them.”
